Merry Christmas 2016

So much for my optimism from my last post, to be more faithful in my blogging!

It was a much different kind of Christmas this year, but we rolled with the punches.
Matt, Sally and Ellie were victims of a stomach bug, one right after another. It was a fast and furious foe. It meant that Matt, Sally and Ellie missed our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day festivities. Add to the mix was the fact that Julie (6 months pregnant) had a severe case of vertigo (the worst of it was in the middle of the night Sun into Mon) and didn't feel quite right all week. We did not want to expose Julie to any stomach bugs. It ended up that Wayne and Julie did not make it to Christmas Eve at Jenny and Jay's and only Wayne came to Bucky's on Christmas.
Disappointing for all that we couldn't be together, but it made us realize (even more than we already do) how very blessed we are with good health overall.
We all made the best of it and it opened the door to other choices for how we could celebrate Christmas.
Instead of going to our usual Christmas Eve mass at St. Cletus, Jack and I worshiped with Bucky and Downtown Sue at St. John Fisher. We went to the 4pm mass and the children presented the gospel. It was sweet and cute and holy, all in one.

mass at Fisher

We spent the rest of Christmas Eve at Jenny and Jay's. We were thrilled that Karen joined us this year after a two years off. It was a lighter crowd but a very fun crowd.

Kjell, Lisa, Jake and Charley

Jaime and Jenny

Christmas morning at Bucky's was fun, as always. We toasted to all who were not there with us, whether dead or just sick. We have that kind of sense of humor! One of the highlights was sitting around the dining room table and talking about lots of interesting topics. There was a little bit of family history, a little politics (well, a lot of politics, but everyone was interested), a little bit of catching up on everyone's lives.

opening presents

Downtown Sue

Jack and I ended up spending the rest of the day at Bucky's. Jack ran out to the 7-11 (only place open on Christmas) and got 2 frozen pizzas and cooked them for dinner.
All in all, a different but fun and meaningful Christmas. We are going to reschedule our Christmas Eve with our kids later this week when Julie and Wayne get back from Ohio.

Blog slacker

My blogging is diminishing. It's December 13th and not one post yet this month? I think I am only averaging 2.5 posts per month. How will I keep all my readers coming back?! Luckily, I am not worried about that. I am thrilled that anyone takes the time to read my blog, but that is not the primary reason I do this. I am not exactly sure why I blog, but I think it is all about the documentation. It helps me to remember. I think that is one of the reasons I take so many pictures and get so much joy from photographs. It keeps memories alive.

I have been feeling a bit anxious this Advent season. I am not sure why. It might be the cumulative effect of several Decembers that involved sick family members or dying family members. Maybe. It might also be because I am working through December 22nd. That does not leave much time for shopping, baking and all the other activities. 

I know for a fact that everything that needs to get done will get done. It always does. 

highlights from the previous week:

We are thrilled to have Bucky, Jack's dad, back in town. He is doing great. We had a fun dinner out at Ken's last Friday.

We got our tree on Saturday and we finally decorated our house. Jack and I agree that if we didn't get a tree, it'd be the beginning of the end for us. 

We had our annual Del Rio's dinner with Steve and Christy et al Saturday night.  Always a beautiful evening.

Last Thursday, I was honored to be asked by Nina to read a book to her class. She was star of the week and that was part of the deal. I was super impressed by Nina, her teacher and her class. Great experience!

Also, I need to blog about Ellie's brunch with Santa! So fun.

I am going to try to be more faithful to my blog and its faithful reader(s). 

Good night!

Another Thanksgiving Over and Done

It's Sunday night of Thanksgiving weekend and another Thanksgiving is over and done. It was a really fun Thanksgiving and overall, a great weekend with a nice blend of fun, productivity and relaxation. After the craziness of hosting Thanksgiving, there were lots of naps. LOTS of naps. Clean a little, nap, do a little schoolwork, nap, clean up more, nap...repeat.
It was the first Thanksgiving that Jack and I were ready for our guests at least an hour before they arrived!!! It was sort of a miracle. It helped that I hosted a little playdate with Sally, Ellie, Teri, Caylen, Henry, Britt and Brooks on Monday after school. That gave me the impetus to clean over the weekend which lightened my cleaning load for Wednesday.

Henry, Ellie and Brooks

Sally, Ellie and I participated in the Hall Family WBTL (Wednesday Before Thanksgiving Lunch). Jenny hosted it at Houlihan's. Nice chance to relax amid the preparations.

the crew

Thanksgiving was fun. Hectic, but fun. Lighthearted and lots of laughs.
Sally, Matt, Ellie and Otto arrived early so that Ellie could nap and Matt could take Otto out for a long walk to burn off some energy. Jack, Sally and I talked about our profound Thanksgiving memories. Hard to pick just one...top picks: Tommy and  magnums of Taittinger, even when he was so impaired with his brain tumor; Mike and Marmar's last Thanksgiving(s) in 2011- who knew that both would leave this earth less than a month later? We got all of that heaviness out of our system before the festivities began.

We were very excited to have Matt's folks join us this year. Bob and Mary were a great addition and we hope they want to make it a new tradition.

Ellie is happy Grandma Mary and Papa are here

All in all, it was the most fun Thanksgiving we have had in a long time. Jenny texted me at 9:30 to see what time all the kids left. Here was my response:

still going strong at 9:30!

However, this Thanksgiving  we did discover a rather disturbing fact (disturbing to Jack, at least!); relish trays are a thing of the past! Jack takes great pride in buying items for his relish tray and alas, no one ate much of anything from them. Pumpkin pie isn't much of a seller anymore, either.
We will adjust!

election night

This is a big night.
It's almost 11pm and we are still following the returns for the presidential election.
By all accounts, Hillary Clinton should have had this won early in the evening. Everyone is beyond shocked that it wasn't a slam-dunk. There have been so many sound bytes and spins this whole election cycle. Who do you believe?
But what I would love to blog about right now is the fact that my husband is an election junkie. World Series? Super Bowl? Tonys? Oscars? Those hold no candle to how much an election night means to Jack.
Jack loves a good political race, win or lose. Jack knows more about our government and elections than most elected officials.
I think it started when Jack got tickets for his family to attend the Republican Convention in 1972.
Even if it was for the Democratic convention, I wouldn't love him less. Insert smiley face here.
I love Jack's passion for our country and his knowledge of our government.
Oh. My. Goodness.
What a night. No matter what happens tonight, history has been made. First female president or an outsider president.
God bless America!

Out of the Rut Weekend

It has been a great weekend.
Jack and I got a burst of energy on Saturday and decided to clean out our front hall closet. We emptied the entire closet, scrubbed it out and got rid of the spider webs.  We could not believe the things we found! Wayne and Sally's backpacks from grade school, hot packs for keeping hands warm that expired in 2006, a George Burns doll, an game ball from Wayne's Little League days... it was amazing. We got rid of lots of stuff and now we actually have room to hang up visitors' coats. It was four hours well spent.

we took everything out of closet. I have no idea how it all fit

Wayne memorabilia

After that productive day, we had a fun dinner with our old (young) neighbors, Joe and Michele. We made it an early dinner, as in 4:30, so that we could get in a good visit before the Cubs game. Joe and Michele are huge Cubs fans and we wanted them to have their full attention for the historic game. After dinner, we went back to Michele and Joe's and watched the game with them and their four kids. So much fun. It was great to experience this momentous event with this family. Only thing that would have made it better is if they still lived next door.

cute Cub fans

On Sunday, Jack and I accompanied Jenny and Abbie to the Holocaust Museum. Abbie is doing a novel study in 5th grade and learning about the Holocaust and that era. She was interested to know more. She is such a kind-hearted, caring, feeling kind of girl and the stories she has read about the Holocaust have made a huge impact on her. Our family field trip was a success. We all benefited.One of the best parts was the videos of survivors' personal stories. So moving, so incredible, so impactful. Also, I would like to return to this museum and spend more time at the new exhibit for 8-12 year olds. It's all about bullying and being an upstander rather than a bystander when you see some one not being treated fairly.

Upstander Abbie

amazing

I started this post on Sunday night. It's now Wednesday night and I am just getting back to it!
It's been a busy week so far with two IEP meetings. Jack has been in Nashville and I am getting ready to head out and pick him up from the airport. The second World Series game is on in the kitchen, with the Cubs leading 4-0 in the 6th. They lost the first game last night, but no one is hitting the panic button. I don't want to be a fair weather fan and pretend that I am a huge Cubs fan because I am not, but it's very exciting for all my friends and relatives that have waited a long time  for this. I am all in for the Cubs. Go Cubs Go!

I love a nice long weekend

There's nothing quite like Columbus Day weekend. It comes at just the right time in the school year, about six weeks in and everyone is ready for a little break in the action. This year I also have an Institute Day tacked on. Tomorrow I am going to a day long training about narrative language assessments (which I can totally use with my ED kiddos). It will be long, but it will be different and I will look forward to being back in the classroom on Wednesday.
This holiday weekend was extra special because Jack and I watched Ellie while Matt and Sally went to Napa to celebrate Matt's 30th (which was October 2). It could not have gone any better! Ellie is so easy and so sweet and we could sit and admire her for hours on end. Ellie arrived on Friday morning after she and Matt dropped off Sally at work. I only had to work 1/2 day in the pm so I was around all morning. We enjoyed visiting with Matt, our super great son-in-law, and he was patient listening to our stories and hanging out with us. At 10 am, while Ellie was down for her morning nap, Jack and Matt picked up Sally from work and they headed straight to the airport. How fun is that???
We did not do anything too extraordinary with Ellie. At 13 months, she is just as happy sitting on Grandpa Jack's lap and reading books, or going to Kramer's (Friday night)  or Kirschbaum's (Saturday morning). We also went to Nina's soccer game on Saturday morning. It was the most beautiful weather, as was the rest of the weekend. Abbie and Nina came back to our house with us (a long overdue visit) and later Jenny and Charley came to pick them up for a sleepover at Jenny's.
We loved visiting with Abbie and Nina. Ellie loves them so much and they are so good with her. Abbie and Nina are so mature! It is kinda crazy. We had a ball playing Kids Charades and then asking/answering questions from our question box. One of the best? Who is your most unusual relative? Abbie answered, "It has to be you, Jack. Being unusual isn't bad. It can be very good. You are unusual because when anyone is with you, you just make them want to burst out laughing. You are so funny". Love it!

On Sunday, we had to take Ellie to Bob and Mary's. Jack and I decided that Matt and Sally need to take longer trips so we can have Ellie with us for longer periods of time!
One of the highlights of Sunday evening was a facetime call with Wayne and Julie to catch up. Always good for my soul to talk to the kids.
Also this weekend we were finishing up the whole Hurricane Matthew situation. Bucky is still in Florida and did not evacuate with Paul to Pensacola. We were worried about Bucky, but were thrilled that he did not get much damage and any power outages. Praise God!!

Kirschbaum's cookie #1 of the weekend

first thing in the morning cuddles

Hey, these cookies are little!

what's that you say, Grandpa Jack?

Happy Birthday to Marie

Today would have been my mother-in-law's 88th birthday. God bless her. Marie was a woman of grace, style, compassion and  she was all about her family. She was loved and respected by her husband, children, grandchildren and especially her daughters-in-law (Marie was a role model to Sue and me). Thank God for this woman of faith. We miss her everyday.

Downtown Sue and Marie, mid 1980s